wine sooth

OpenWine Consortium Logo.

In just over half a year, the OpenWine Consortium has gathered 2000 members. They have been bloggers, writers, marketers, growers, producers, importers and exporters, retailers and wine enthusiasts. They have organized into diverse groups focused on interest, region, pursuit and wine industry sector. As one of the community’s administrators, it has been very exciting for me to be part of that growth.

The OWC now has members on every continent. This global, online network with administrators in North America and the European Union has reached people from different sectors of the wine industry. People located on opposite sides of the globe can now interact in a meaningful way. (more…)

Yeast gone wild.

Complexity and Terroir.

The major contention of the proponents of uninoculated fermentation is that this route bestows a greater complexity to the wine. Some have suggested that certain, “regional” strains or cultures can also impart a regional distinction. S. Cerevisiae is subject to great variation (vineyard to vineyard and even tank to tank). Mortimer’s work indicated that there were multiple distinct strains within individual wineries. So it is not unreasonable to implicate yeasts as contributory factors in a wine’s distinctiveness. (more…)

Yeast gone wild.

This is the second post in a series of three that look at the idea of wild yeasts. (See the first post here).

Wild-Domesticated-Feral.

One of my original questions (when I set out to put this piece together) was: “are those S. cerevisiae yeasts found on the grapes prior to inoculation still “wild” or just “feral”?” If S. cerevisiae thrives primarily in close proximity of human populations (as mentioned in Robert K. Mortimer’s article - in the section discussing a theory of yeast evolution offered by Naumov), the interaction between man and yeast must have some impact on the genetic make up of the yeasts. (more…)

Yeast gone wild.

“There are no wild yeasts, only feral ones” Bruno D’Alfonso once told me bluntly. I had been probing the winemaker about notions in the wine loving and wine writing spheres about what is and is not excessive intervention and manipulation in modern winemaking.

Recalling my undergraduate and medical school microbiology, I had some understanding of yeasts and concepts of their utility in winemaking. Bruno’s argument made sense to me, and it affected my thinking about wine yeasts going forward.

After a recent increase in blog chatter about natural wines and the aversion some writers and critics have to cultured yeasts, I wanted to revisit this topic. Obviously, there is a disconnect between what the winemakers know and what some writers and critics believe. It seems to me, though that getting hung up over the use of inoculated yeasts as an inherently bad thing is misguided.

This is the first in a series of three posts that look at the idea of wild yeasts. (more…)

"The Pour" header image.

Some time ago, I wrote about the homogeneity in blog design. Just recently, I noticed that The Pour has undergone a few infrastructure changes.

The hallmark of the blog, “The Thinker”, has been replaced by a generic looking wine glass - part of the original design: photo of Rodin’s “The Thinker” pasted into a drawing of a table with a glass of wine on it.

Eric Asimov kindly responded to my query about the change, saying that the NY Times had done some software updates on their blogging platform and the header image had been changed. (more…)

Science Conference. From www.usf.edu

The general public is not science savvy and there is some truth to the notion that there is an anti-intellectual trend in our country. Too often, this is exploited for public relations purposes and for personal gain. Still, developments and advancements need to be brought to the attention and understanding of the average American.

The wine industry and wine blogging see announcements of health benefits of wine and other wine-related “studies” published and shot across the news wires almost daily.

I have been critical of how these publications are presented, interpreted, handled and served up for public consumption. My gripes have been that this is often done in a sensationalistic manner, with disregard for all sides and implications of an issue and with a sucking void where critical thinking should be. (more…)

PinotHarvest.com Logo

This is a great site to follow if you want to know about wine harvest and crush - especially if you love pinot noir and double especially if you love California pinot noit.

The site was developed by Adam Lee and Brian Loring.

Last month, before its launch, I asked Brian Loring about the purpose of the site:

“Adam and I, as well as other winemakers and growers, regularly post on various wine bulletin boards about our harvest experiences. The format of those sites, with the back and forth interaction of other board members, doesn’t lend itself to presenting how harvest unfolds in a straightforward flow. (more…)